Rio Pac-Man

In the battlefields of corporate finance, few triumphs have a finer sound than a successful Pac-Man defence. Prey turns predator, small company buys large, investment banker holds off opposing army single-handedly. To judge from a report in the Wall Street Journal, it seems that such a heroic notion has poisoned the mind of someone thinking about Rio Tinto’s response to rival miner BHP Billiton’s takeover approach. The idea that Rio would make a counter-bid for its bigger rival has been dismiss...